Miniature toy vehicle



Oct. 27, 1970 M. E. IEDA 3,535,821

MINIATURE TOY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec. 27, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MIC/ 46L LIED/4 Aus l- ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1970 M. E. IEDA 3,535,821

MINIATURE TOY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec. 27. 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1970 M. E. [EDA 3,535,821

MINIATURE TOY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec. 27. 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR M/(HFl EfEO/V A s i i ATTORNEYS Oct. 27, 1970 |EDA 3,535,821

MINIATURE 'IOY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec. 27, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 7

F/6.9 k J l INVENTO a/ ATTOR NEYS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 M. E. IEDA Oct. 27, 1970 MINIATURE TOY VEHICLE Original Filed Dec. 27. 1968 INVENTOR M/Cf/flfl -[504 Add 4 Mm ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 46243 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy vehicle having a steering pin for following a groove in a track lay-out. The steering pin is mounted for rotatable movement on the tie rod. In one position, the pin extends downward to control the vehicle to follow the track groove. In a second position, the steering pin does not extend downward. Instead, it engages a ridge on the chassis to prevent transverse movement of the tie rod.

This invention relates to miniature toy vehicles, and more particularly to a vehicle which can be selectively controlled to follow a groove in a track. This application is a continuation of my application Ser. No. 787,528 filed on Dec. 27, 1968.

Miniature battery-powered toy vehicles which travel along appropriate tracks have become very popular in the toy industry in recent years. Typically, a track lay-out is set up by the child, each track section having a guide groove in it for guiding the miniature vehicle. Each vehicle (car, truck, etc.) is provided with a guide pin or track follower which follows the groove in the track so that the vehicle does not veer off the track. The vehicle generally includes one or more batteries for powering a miniature electric motor to drive the rear wheels. The motor circuit is completed with the closing of a manuallyoperated switch.

Generally, the child truns the motor switch on while holding the car or other vehicle and then places it on the track. To stop the car, the child lifts it and shuts off the motor switch. But there are many situations in which it would be highly advantageous to first place the car on the track and to start it moving with the manipulation of a remote switch. Similarly, it would be advantageous in many situations to provide for the automatic stopping of the car along some segment of the track without requiring the child to physically lift the car and shut off the switch. Although provision for such starting and stopping operations have been made in some prior art sets of the type described, this is usually accomplished by physically blocking movement of the car. For example, after the car motor is started, the car can be placed on the track in back of a barrier. When the barrier is removed the car can start to move. Similarly, to stop the car it is only necessary to place the barrier in its path.

The shortcomings of such an approach are manifest. With high-speed toy cars it is impractical to place a barrier in the path of an approaching car. Furthermore, while the car is not moving, not only are the batteries still being drained but the tires can get worn down and the guide pin may even be forced out of the guide groove on the track in which case the car may travel off the track.

It is a general object of my invention to provide a toy vehicle whose motor can be turned on and oil in accordance with the manipulation of a lever mechanism on a corresponding section of track.

Briefly, in accordance with the principles of my invention, I provide a switch on the car to control completion of the motor circuit. The motor circuit includes a pair of normally closed contacts and when the motor switch is operated the motor starts to run. The pair of normally Patented Oct. 27, 1970 closed contacts are mechanically coupled to a lever which descends from the bottom of the vehicle. The vehicle includes a guide pin which controls steering of the car along the track lay-out. On one particular track segment there is provided a lever which can be moved by the child into and out of a stop position.

If the track lever is not in the stop position, the car travels along the guide groove just as it does along the other track segments in the overall lay-out. The lever descending from the undersurface of the vehicle does not engage any part of the track, the normally-closed contacts remain closed, and the vehicle continues to move. However, when the stop lever is operated by the child it is moved into a position such that it is engaged by the lever descending from the undersurface of the car. With the track lever in the stop position, when the car moves alongside the track lever the car lever is moved such that the normally-closed contacts are opened. The motor circuit is broken and the car comes to a halt. To start the car going once again, it is only necessary to move the track lever such that the car lever returns to its normal position to once again allow the normally-closed contacts to complete the motor circuit.

In this manner, the car can be stopped and started while it is on the track. And while stopped, the motor does not continue to run. The arrangement described is particularly suitable for races among various cars. Each car can be stared off simply by operating the track lever, and at the end of the race the car can be made to come to a halt if the terminal track segment has its track lever in the stop position.

It is a feature of my invention to provide on a toy vehicle a lever which can engage a mating lever on a corresponding segment of track, the car lever, when moved upon engagement with the track lever, breaking the energization circuit for the car motor.

Further objects, features and advantages of my invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a side view of the illustrative embodiment of the invention (chassis 17) and a typical car body 15 used therewith;

FIG. 2 depicts a top view of the chassis of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the front end of the chassis assembly;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view showing the construction of the front end of the chassis assembly.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the front end of the chassis assembly;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through line 66 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken through line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top view of track segment 79 with the control lever in the stop position;

FIG. 9 is a partial view of the track segment 79 with the control lever in the start position;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken through the line 1010 of the chassis assembly on track segment 79 with the control lever in the start position;

FIG. 11 is a view similar to that of FIG. 10 but shows the track lever in the stop position; and

FIG. 12 depicts symbolically the motor energization circuit.

FIG. 1 depicts a typical body 15 which can be used with the chassis assembly 17. The chassis assembly includes a main frame 19 having thereon two horizontal ribs 19b, seen most clearly on FIG. 2. Car body 15 is constructed so that it can be snapped onto the chassis assembly, the car body having thereon internal grooves for mating with ribs 1%. In this manner, a plurality of interchangeable car bodies can be used with the same chassis assembly.

At the rear of the chassis there is provided a motor 21 which snap fits into the compartment defined by side plates 19a. Gear 31 is attached to the motor shaft. Idler gears 33a, 33b, secured to each other and freely rotatable on shaft 14 attached to the side of frame 19, serves to drive gear 35. This gear is fixed to axle 16 which passes through suitable holes in frame 19 and has attached at its two ends rear wheels 37a, 37b. The purpose of the gear train is to decrease the speed of the rear wheels with reference to the relatively high-speed motor. Such a construction is well known in the art.

Plastic block 53 serves to support contacts 27 and 47. The motor has two terminals 51a, 515, which when placed across an operating potential result in the motor operation. Contact strip 47 is secured to plastic block 53 by a screw 49. The contact has a side section 470 which bears against terminal 51a of the motor. Terminal 51b of the motor is connected internally to the metal motor case. The case bears against a section of contact 27 which extends downward along plastic block 53 in the view of FIG. 2. Contact 27 is also secured to plastic block 53 by a screw 49. Thus, the motor circuit can be energized by applying a potential arcoss contacts 47 and 27.

Each of contacts 47 and 27 includes an extension for bearing against one end of the respective one of batteries 29a, 29b, the two batteries being held in compartment 190 in the chassis frame as seen most clearly in F168. l3.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the switch assembly for controlling the starting and stopping of the car. The assembled switch mechanism is shown in FIG. 3 along with the steering assembly at the front of the chassis. The

steering assembly is not shown in FIG. 4 for the sake of clarity.

The chassis is provided with a slot 19k over which plastic piece 61 is placed, the plastic piece having a corresponding slot 610. The frame includes another hole 19c into which lug 61b is fitted, and element 19 having an indentation therein into which lug 61a is fitted. In this matter plastic piece 61 can be snapped into frame 19. Plastic element 61 includes two holes 61c, 61h. while the frame contains only one hole 191' corresponding to hole 610.

Lever 71 includes two pivots 711) which are rotatable in notches (all of element 61. As leg 711' is moved within slot 61a, it is apparent that end 71a of lever 71 moves up and down with reference to element 61. Contact 39 is fitted on the plastic element as shown in FIG. 4, with screw 59a extending through hole 39; in the contact and hole 610 in the plastic element. The screw further extends through hole 191' in the frame and hole 555 in switch 55. The screw can be staked at its end to hold all of the elements in place, while still allowing switch 55 to be rotated around it. It should be noted that contact 39 includes a leg 39a for engaging the other terminal of battery 29a so that the contact is included in the motor circuit. Screw 590 contacts the frame as it passes through hole 191', so effectively the ground of the frame is extended to contact 39 which comprises the grounded element in the motor circuit.

Contact element 39 includes three fingers 39c, 39 .1 and 39a. Only finger 3% forms a part of the energization circuit. Fingers 39c and 39d simply serve to hold pivots 71b in place in notches 61f, as seen mostly clearly in FIG. 3. This arrangement of contact element 39 thus allows the same piece to electrically contact one of the two batteries and at the same time to mechanically hold pivot element 71 in place.

Contact element 57 is secured to plastic element 61 by screw passing through hole 570 and terminating in screw threads 61d in the plastic element. With the two contact elements in place, finger 39c overlays edge 57d of the other contact strip. Finger 39c is biased downward,

till

so in the normal position of lever element 71, with leg 71c being vertical and tip 710 being below finger 392, the motor circuit is completed. The motor circuit is shown most clearly in P16. 12, although there pivot element 71 is shown in the position in which it separates finger 39e from edge 57d. 111 the absence of any force in the direction of slot 19k, the pivot element is in its normal position as shown in FIG. 4 and the motor circuit is completed through finger 39c and edge 57d of the other contact strip.

There is only one way in which the energization circuit can be broken. and that is if pivot element 71 is moved such that tip 71a bears up against the underside of finger 396 to lift it from edge 57d. When the vehicle is not in use by the child, switch lever 55a is moved to the position shown in FIG. 5. The switch bears against leg 710 of the pivot element and moves the pivot element such that leg 7Ia bears up against finger 39c. In such a case the energization circuit is broken and the motor does not run. When the toy is not in use switch 55 is placed in the position shown in H6. 5. When the toy is in use, the switch is moved to the position shown in phantom in FIG. 5, in which case the energization circuit is completed. As will become apparent below, an alternative mechanism on a corresponding track section is provided to force leg 71c of the lever to the right in FIG. 4 to break the motor circuit in the same way it is broken when switch 55 is moved to the off position.

Before proceeding with a description of the track segment and its cooperation with the toy vehicle, the steering assembly at the front end of frame 19 must be understood. Each of knuckles 75a and 75b is attached to frame 19 by a respective one of screws 63a, 631). Each knuckle is attached at one end to a respective one of wheels 73a, 731. the wheels being mounted for rotational movement as is known in the art. Each of the knuckles is rotatable on its respective pivot screw 63a, 63b. The forward end of each knuckle is joined by a screw 65a, 65b to one end of tie rod 67. The tie rod slides along the frame 19 as seen most clearly in FlG. 6.

The tie rod does not extend clear across frame 19 and instead has included along it a square-shape compartment 771) (see PK]. 3). In each side of the compartment is a hole 77! into which a pin is secured and passed through steering member 69. The steering member is rotatable on the pin. The steering member has a guide pin 69a extending therefrom for moving in the groove of the tracks. As the car moves along the track, the steering pin 69a is moved to the left and right for controlling the turning of the front wheels, as is known in the art. FIG. 5 shows the wheels turned in one direction (in phantom).

It is often desirable, however, to lock the front wheels in the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 so that the car travels only in a straight path of movement. This would be the case, for example, where the car is simply placed on the floor rather than on the track. In such a case the steering member is rotated such that pin 69a rests in notch 77c of the tie rod assembly. This is shown in FIG. 6 and in phantom in FIG. 7. But this arrangement does not lock the tie rod in a position such that the wheels are not turned. Additional means are provided for this purpose.

It will be noted that guide pin 69a terminates in section 69b on steering member 69. With the steering member rotated such that guide pin 69a rests in notch 770, the end 69b of the guide pin is adjacent the upper surface of plate 19. At that point on the plate there are two ridges 191, and section 69b of the steering assembly fits between the ridges. In such a position the tie rod cannot move and the wheels are locked in place as shown in FIG. 6.

The child can force the tie rod to move to the left or the right by manually turning the front Wheels. Referring to FIG. 6, if the wheels are turned so that they face leftward, element 69b lies to the left of the leftmost ridge 19m. This has the effect of locking the wheels so that the car moves in a circle in a clockwise direction.

Similarly, if the Wheels are turned so that element 69b is forced past the rightmost ridge 191, the car will only move in a circle in the counter-clockwise direction. It is of course possible to provide a number of ridges such as 191 so that the front wheels can be locked in a number of different positions to control the car to move in circles of varying radii.

Before proceeding with a description of track segment 79 and the manner in which it controls the starting and stopping of the car, one more element on the underside of frame 19 must be described. This element is simply a lug 19 shown most clearly in FIGS. 1, 10 and 11. The lug is at the right end of slot 19k on FIG. 4, on the underside of the frame. As will be described below, the track functions to stop the car by moving leg 710 of lever 71 to the right, as shown in FIG. ll. It is possible, however, without the provision of lug 19 that a transverse force on leg 710 would simply push the car to the right in FIG. 11, rather than moving the lever about its pivot. For this reason, lug 19] is provided. The lug moves past a stop 79a on the track which prevents the car from being forced to the right in FIGS. 10 and 11. Consequently, if lever 83A, as will be described below, is in a position such that it forces leg 71c to the right, instead of the entire car being pushed to the right, the lever pivots to open the motor circuit.

FIG. 8 shows a top view of the track. At each end of the track are two lugs 7912 which can be attached to similarly paired lugs on adjacent sections of track as is known in the art. Track segment 79 includes two guide grooves 79C, 79d. The two grooves intersect at corners 79c, 79] such that a vehicle traveling from the left has its guide pin follow groove 79d, while a vehicle traveling from the right has its guide pin follow groove 79c. Consequently, the start/ stop mechanism associated with track segment 79 works only with cars traveling from the left along groove 79d.

Stop 79a is fixed to the track and bears against lug 191' on the undersurface of the chassis assembly to prevent the car from being moved toward groove 790 when lever 83a is in a position to force leg 71c of lever 71 in a direction toward groove 79c. Lever 83a is capable of pivotal movement on the track. The right end of the lever on FIG. 8 is provided with a lug 83]) which extends downward through a hole 7911 in the track and is attached to speed nut 87 so that the lug is movable within slot 81b of lever 81. Section 830 of lever 83 is movable between the underside of track 79 and the top of lever 81. Lever 81 is provided with a hole so that it can be slipped onto lug 79g of the track and secured thereto by speed nut 85 for pivotal movement, as shown most clearly in FIGS. 10 and 11.

Referring toFIGS. 9 and 10, when section 81a of lever 81 is moved by the child to the position shown, lug 83b moves in slot 81!) so that it is pulled away from groove 79d. In such a case, lever 83a is displayed sufficiently from stop 79a on the track segment to allow both lug 19 and the lower end 71d of lever 71 on the car to clear stop 79a and lever 83a. Referring to FIG. 10, it is understood that guide pin 69a of the car is following groove 79d, although not shown in the drawing. In such a case, lug 19i and end 71d of lever 71 straddle the groove between stop 79a and lever 83a. The car travels along groove 79d with no interference.

But when lever 81 is moved to the position shown in FIGS. 8 and 11, lever 83a is moved closer to groove 79d. As seen most clearly in FIG. 11, in such a case as the car moves between stop 79a and lever 83a, lever 71 is rotated slightly around its pivot such that finger 39c is lifted from contact 570'. The motor energization circuit is broken and the car comes to a stop. Lever 83a and stop 79a are sufiiciently long such that after the energizetion circuit is broken the car, while it continues to coast, comes to a stop before lever 83:: and stop 79a are cleared.

In order to start the car going once again, all that is necessary is to move lever 81 to the position shown in FlGS. 9 and ll). Fnger 39c which is biased in the downward direction causes lever 71 to rotate back to the position shown in FIG. 10. When finger 39e engages contact 57d, the motor energization circuit is completed and the car moves forward.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a particular embodiment, it is to be understood that this embodiment is merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made therein and other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy vehicle comprising an elongated chassis body, a front wheel assembly mounted adjacent the front end of said chassis body, a rear wheel assembly mounted adjacent the rear end of said chassis body, means on said chassis body intermediate said front and rear wheel assemblies defining a battery cradle, means on said chassis body defining a motor cradle, a battery-operated motor mouted in said motor cradle and including a motor shaft operatively connected to said rear wheel assembly, an energization circuit for connecting one or more batteries connected in said battery cradle to said motor, said front wheel assembly including a tie rod, a steering member fixed to and mounted on said tie rod for rotatable movement on said tie rod and having a steering pin extending therefrom, said steering member being rotatable from one position in which said steering pin extends downward from said chassis body to a second position in which said steering pin does not extend downward from said chassis body, and engaging means on said chassis body and on said steering member for preventing transverse movement of said tie rod when said steering member is in said second position.

2. A toy vehicle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said tie rod includes a pin-shaped member and said steering member includes a hole for extension therethrough by said pin-shaped member to allow rotation of said steering member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,027,682 4/1962 Schlau 46244 X 3,350,813 11/1967 Isaacson 46243 3,447,257 6/1969 Ieda 46244 X 3,474,567 10/1969 McRoskey 46-243 3,496,674 2/ 1970 Cooper 46-243 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner 

